The RMT is objecting vigorously to proposals published by the Office of Rail and Road which could mean more open access operators being allowed to run trains in return for paying higher track access charges. Although the idea was discreetly unveiled in a blog on the ORR website on 3 December it was given little publicity, and has only been attracting attention over the past 48 hours. Even so, some media sources have reported the proposals as if they have been newly published. The RMT has claimed that they would ‘open the door to yet more fragmentation and profiteering’.

Many trains in Scotland are being cancelled because of a shortage of drivers. The latest lines to be electrified are the routes between Glasgow Queen Street, Stirling and Dunblane or Alloa, which began to be operated with electric trains on 9 December, as part of the new timetables. But although passengers were promised ‘the best railway Scotland has ever had’, problems have continued because the 385s and also refurbished HSTs have been late arriving.